NEW TESTAMENT: Colossians 1: 1 - 14 (all but Roman Catholic)

Colo 1:1 (NRSV) Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colos'sae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
3 In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. 7 This you learned from Ep'aphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Notes h/t montreal anglican
Colossians was written to counter deviant teaching, including the need to practice Jewish rituals, and Greek theosophical speculation. Christians there tended to seek power for human life not solely from Christ, but from various sources. They tried to merge traditions.
The letter begins in typical Greek style: the names of the senders (v. 1) and those of the recipients (v. 2), and then a prayer for thanksgiving or of petition (here Christian, vv. 3ff). “The saints” (v. 4) are those set apart for God’s work in the world. Note the triad of “faith ... love ... hope” (vv. 4-5), the steps in coming to know Christ. The community is basically faithful to the good news, as taught by Epaphras. The Church is growing both in Colossae and throughout the Empire (“the whole world”, v. 6). Vv. 9-13 are one sentence in Greek: “we have not ceased ...” “praying”, “asking” and “giving thanks” (v. 12). The “knowledge” in v. 9 is practical: born of experience of a person, i.e. Christ. Perhaps they are to “endure” (v. 11) the false teaching. The opposition of “light” (v. 12) and “darkness” (v. 13) is also found in the Qumran literature. The phrase “forgiveness of sins” (v. 14) occurs only in letters not generally agreed to be by Paul.

Verse 7: “servant”: The Greek word literally means slave. [CAB]
Verses 9-11: A petition for sensitivity to God’s will, resulting in Christian conduct, and sustained by divine strength. [NOAB]
Verse 9: “knowledge”: Greeks were keen on knowledge, but not of a practical nature.
Verse 9: “knowledge ... wisdom ... understanding”: The corresponding Greek terms are found frequently in the Qumran literature, e.g.
• 1QH (Hymns) 9:19-21 (Vermes: 1:19-21), where the three terms are connected with the revelation of mysteries (see also Colossians 1:27-28; 2:2-3)
• 1QS (Rule of the Community) 4:2-8, a passage which recounts the way of the Spirit of Truth. and includes humility and forbearance, understanding, knowledge, wisdom, zeal for ordinances, firm inclination and discretion regarding revelation of the mysteries. [NJBC]
Verse 10: Ephesians 4:1 says : “I ... beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called”. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 2:12: “urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory”. [CAB]
Verse 11: This verse underscores God’s power, which enables Christians to “endure ... with patience”. Coupled with Paul’s references to sufferings and struggle in 1:24-2:5, the Colossians are being asked to endure in the face of an ominous false teaching which threatens them: see 2:8-23: “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ ...”. [CAB]
Verse 12: “inheritance”: In the Old Testament, the Promised Land: see Joshua 14-19. Ephesians 1:11-12 says “In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory”. [CAB]












GOSPEL: Luke 10: 25 - 37 (all)

Luke 10:25 (NRSV) Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?" 27 He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." 28 And he said to him, "You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live."
29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" 30 Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Le'vite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, "Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" 37 He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."


Jesus has prepared disciples for a missionary journey beyond Israel. He has given them advice on how to introduce receptive people to his message of peace and eternal life, to entry into the Kingdom of God.
Perhaps the “lawyer”, a person expert in the interpretation of Jewish law, has heard Jesus’ words about mission to Gentiles. He asks: How much must I do ...? Jesus speaks to him in his terms (v. 26). The lawyer answers with a verse from Deuteronomy and another from Leviticus, both books of the Law (v. 27). Jesus echoes a verse in the Law (v. 28). At the time, Jews debated whether all fellow Jews (or just some) were their neighbours. The lawyer seeks to prove his entitlement to eternal life by defining the limits of his duty to neighbours, but Jesus reinterprets the Law in the story of the Good Samaritan (vv. 30-35). The “priest” (v. 31) stands for Jewish religious leadership; Levites (v. 32) assisted priests in the Temple. The man may be dead; if either touches him, he risks ritual defilement. Each keeps the law literally. Jews saw Samaritans as religious deviants, but they did keep the Law; each group despised each other. So for a Samaritan to risk becoming unclean is to act according to the spirit of the Law rather than the letter. (“Oil and wine”, v. 34, were medications.) In v. 37, the lawyer recognizes that the Samaritan has acted properly (but can’t bring himself to say Samaritan.) The neighbour argument is irrelevant. The lawyer must see behind the Law to love of all. Even non-Jews who demonstrate this love can enter the kingdom.

Verse 27: The lawyer’s words are a composite of Deuteronomy 6:5 (“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might”) and Leviticus 19:18b (“... you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the LORD’). Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:14 and James 2:8 (and vv. 29-37 here) implicitly link Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18, stressing the principle that acts of love are the final requirement of the Law. These verses are also combined in Testament of Issachar 5:2; 7:6. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 is known in Jewish tradition as the Shema, the first word in Hebrew being shema, meaning hear. Rabbinic practice was to associate these two verses. The verse from Leviticus is also quoted in Matthew 5:43; 19:19; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8. [NOAB] [BlkLk]
Verse 27: “heart ... soul ... strength ... mind”: Strangely, this enumeration and order of the human faculties follows the Hebrew rather than the Septuagint translation. “And with your mind” is an addition, and the word for “mind” is really an alternative translation of the Hebrew for “heart”. No version of the Old Testament has a form of the commandment in which all four human faculties are mentioned. Perhaps two versions (of the story) were current when Luke wrote, one with “heart” and one with “mind”, and the text adopted may be a conflation of the two. Some manuscripts of Luke omit “and with your mind”. [BlkLk]


Verse 33: “Samaritan”: Jews considered Samaritans to be religious apostates. 2 Kings 17:24-34 tells of the resettlement of Samaria by the Assyrians. Samaria was inhabited by mixed remnants of northern tribes who worshipped Yahweh and used the Pentateuch. In Matthew 10:5, the disciples are forbidden to visit Samaritan towns, but here, in Luke 17:11-19 (the leaded Samaritan leper thanks Jesus) and in John 4:4-42 (the Samaritan woman at the well), Jesus is friendly to Samaritans. The mission to the Samaritans was successful: see Acts 8:5-8. [NOAB]